Association established

On September 26, the Beijing IPR Protection Association was established as the first professional IPR protection organization in Beijing.

Organizers say the association will further optimize the environment for regional innovation.

Wang Lijun, deputy director of Beijing Intellectual Property Office, says many domestic enterprises are confronted with not only problems like anti-dumping but also challenges brought by IPR issues like patent disputes and technical barriers to trade when participating in international competition.

Therefore, a good environment for IPR protection in Beijing has become more and more essential and urgent.

The organizers of the association include administrative departments, law enforcement departments, enterprises, research institutes, and agencies.

Publication market supervision

The National Office of Anti-pornography and Anti-illegal Publications issued a notice saying that the National Day Golden Week will also be the "high season" for pirated publications. To create a festive social and cultural environment, and to consolidate and expand the achievements of the "100-day Campaign against Piracy," China will further strengthen its supervision on the publication market, and avoid the rebound of piracy during National Day.

The notice stressed repeated checks on the publication market, the consolidation and expansion of the results in the "100-day Campaign against Piracy," and the investigation of major cases.

The notice called on all the offices of Anti-pornography and Anti-illegal publications to make arrangements for anti-piracy work, to focus on implementation and efficiency, and to carry out widespread media publicity.

The notice also emphasized the implementation of the filing system for major cases.

Tsinghua trademark

Tsinghua University has received trademark registration certificates issued by the Intellectual Property Department of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

On December 22, 2005, Tsinghua university applied for eight trademarks involved in four main fields including education service, scientific research, publication printing and education articles, which have been approved on September 5, 2006.

In accordance with the particularity and importance of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University registered the trademarks in Hong Kong for its name in Chinese and English, which is another move of trademark protection by the university. The successful application will better protect the co-operation and communication of the university in Hong Kong.

As the owner of those above trademarks, Tsinghua University has exclusive right to use the registered trademarks by law and has the right to prohibit unauthorized use by others.

KTV copyright fee

Club and copyright owners took different views at a National Copyright Administration (NCA) symposium on KTV copyright fees.

A month ago, the NCA published a draft standard of 12 yuan (US$1.5) per KTV room per day, stipulating that KTV club owners would pay the copyright fee once a year. On August 21, the NCA released the fee proposal to solicit public opinion.

At the symposium, China's famous composer Gu Jianfen, representing copyright owners, said collecting copyright fees from KTV clubs is a way of showing respect for musicians' work and will help boost their creativity and enthusiasm.

Some copyright owners of songs and music videos say the draft standard was still too low, but they are prepared to accept it as in the past they received little or no payment.

A KTV club owner from Henan Province suggested that the KTV copyright fee be tied to the frequency with which songs were chosen. KTV clubs could pay more copyright fees for songs which were frequently chosen by customers and less for unpopular songs.

He also says decision-makers should consider regional wealth levels when setting the fee. He felt that a unified national KTV copyright fee would be unreasonable. The fee should vary according to the level of local economic development.

Some KTV bosses said the fee was too high, and 1 yuan (US$0.13) per room per day was more appropriate.

The NCA has not yet finalized the fee question.

(China Daily 10/09/2006 page9)